DULUTH, GA. – The Omaha Supernovas (11-6) fell to the league-leading Atlanta Vibe (15-4) 17-25, 25-21, 16-25, 18-25 Saturday night at Gas South Arena in Duluth.
Jess Schaben-Lansman was one of two Supernovas to tally double-digit kills with a team-high 11 kills to go with eight digs, two blocks, one ace and one assist. Three-time Olympian Bethania de la Cruz recorded 10 kills with seven digs and one block. Team captain Brooke Nuneviller had nine kills on the night along with nine digs.
Tori Dixon led the middle blockers for Omaha as she slammed down nine kills on a .350 clip. She also posted four bocks and a pair of digs. Teammate Hristina Vuchkova totaled six kills while equaling Dixon’s total with four blocks.
Setters Natalia Valentín-Anderson and Sydney Hilley split duties in the match with the Puerto Rican dishing out 28 assists with 12 digs and one kill. Hilley subbed into the match during the last two sets and handed out 11 assists, one dig and one kill. Georgia native Gabby Thompson dug out 12 balls and one assist in her home state.
The Supernovas hit .193 with only one ace, but matched a season-high with 13 blocks.
Pro Volleyball Federation kills leader Leah Edmond led a barrage of Vibe attackers with 21 kills on a .372 hitting percentage. Edmond was one of five Atlanta players who recorded double-digit kills. Outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh posted 13 kills while opposite Anna Lazareva added 11. Middle blockers Shelly Fanning and Jehlárová Magdalena each slammed down 10 kills while Magdalena tied a team-high with three blocks. Setter Marie Monserez totaled 56 assists with 11 digs.
Atlanta hit .291 on the night with eight blocks and three aces.
Set 1: The Vibe came firing out of the gate in front of a juiced crowd, building a 7-1 lead behind three kills from Member-Meneh. That also included a block from the outside hitter along with an ace from Fanning to force an Omaha timeout. The lead climbed to 9-1 before a de la Cruz kill halted the rally. Schaben-Lansman collected a pair of kills taking advantage of an overpass on one of the tallies. Vuchkova hammered a ball for a kill to cut the lead to 12-7. Vuchkova picked up another kill and a solo block. Lazareva and a Supernovas hitting error put the lead back at 16-10. De la Cruz hammered two more kills. Atlanta responded with a 5-1 run to build an insurmountable lead as Edmond had two kills and a block in that stretch. Edmond terminated once again to give the Vibe set point before a Fanning kill ended the set with a 25-17 Atlanta win.
The Vibe hit .368 with only three hitting errors as Lazareva and Edmond paced the team with five kills in the set. Atlanta finished with three blocks and the lone Fanning ace.
Omaha hit .156 as de la Cruz and Schaben-Lansman each recorded four kills. The Supernovas posted one block with no aces.
Set 2: It was a much better start to the set for the Supernovas who scraped together a two-point lead at 6-4 with a Nuneviller kill. An Omaha service error cut the lead to one, but back-to-back kills from de la Cruz and Valentín-Anderson made it 8-5. That turned into a 5-1 run including consecutive blocks from Schaben-Lansman and Dixon to force an Atlanta timeout at 11-6. A 3-1 Atlanta run followed, but Nuneviller ended the momentum with a kill. After another Nuneviller kill to make it 14-10, the Vibe ripped off three-straight points including an Edmond and Fanning kill to force an Omaha timeout at 14-13. The Supernovas came out of the timeout on a 4-0 run with two kills and a block from Vuchkova. De la Cruz also contributed a block in the sequence. The Vibe rallied for three straight points, but a de la Cruz kill and Dixon block put the lead back at 20-16. Neither team could score consecutive points for the remainder of the set as Nuneviller finished it off with a tally to stamp a 25-21 set-two win for the Supernovas.
Omaha hit .250 with Nuneviller delivering five kills in the set. Vuchkova and de la Cruz each had three kills. The Supernovas recorded six blocks in the set with zero aces.
Atlanta hit .111 as Member-Meneh paced the Vibe with five kills. Atlanta recorded two blocks with no aces.
Set 3: Both teams were dead even early on, exchanging points as Schaben-Lansman collected an early kill while Vuchkova stuffed another Atlanta attack. Magdalena put down two kills and Member-Meneh served an ace to give the Vibe a 10-7 lead. De la Cruz recorded a kill to end the run and Schaben-Lansman hammered a kill a couple points later. Edmond made an impact with two kills and a block to extend the Atlanta lead to 13-9. Schaben-Lansman recorded an ace and a kill in a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 15-13. After Nuneviller cut the lead to one with a kill, the Vibe rallied for four-straight points off the back of a pair of Omaha net violations to make it 19-14 Atlanta. Nuneviller struck with a kill coming out of a timeout, but four more points by Atlanta put the Vibe lead at 23-15. Hilley won a net battle over Edmond for a point, but consecutive hitting errors by Omaha gave the set to Atlanta 25-16.
The Vibe hit .367 as Edmond dominated the set earning seven kills on a .583 clip. Atlanta recorded three blocks with one ace. The Supernovas hit .070 as Nuneviller and Schaben-Lansman posted three kills apiece. Omaha had three blocks and one ace.
Set 4: Dixon picked up a kill and block in the early stages as the Supernovas grabbed an early 5-3 edge off a Schaben-Lansman kill. However, that sparked a 3-0 Atlanta run to make it 6-5 Vibe. Lazareva hammered a kill and a double hit by the Supernovas extended the Atlanta lead to 9-7. De la Cruz tallied two-straight kills for Omaha. Magdalena began a 6-1 run for the Vibe with a slide attack as Edmond recorded two kills in the sequence. Schaben-Lansman and Mayfield recorded back-to-back kills to end the run and made it 16-12 Vibe. Schaben-Lansman put down another ball for a kill. Back-to-back kills from Lazareva and Member-Meneh extended the Vibe lead to 21-14. Dixon fired back with a kill and block in consecutive points to make it 21-16. Lazareva and Edmond responded with kills to stretch the Atlanta advantage to 23-17 forcing a Supernovas timeout. Edmond tooled a block to give the Vibe match point before Magdalena sealed the win with a slide attack.
The Supernovas take a week off before hosting the San Diego Mojo on Saturday, April 20. First serve is set for 6 p.m. CDT at the CHI Health Center.
Fans can also listen to all the action on the Supernovas Radio Network which is led by the flagship station, 93.7 The Ticket. Radio coverage is also on 95.7 The Boss (Omaha), KRVN (Lexington), KOLT (Scottsbluff) and KTIC (West Point).
